The present invention relates to a traction elevator which obviates the need for a machine house for installing a driving device.
Recently, to eliminate the need for a rope elevator machine house installed at the top of the elevator shaft in relation to a right to enjoy sunshine, various elevators such as a linear motor elevator and an elevator whose hoisting device is installed in the gap between the elevator car and the elevator shaft wall have been proposed.
FIG. 1 shows an outline of an elevator, such as described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2-23492, in which the armature of a cylindrical linear motor 51 is built into a counterweight 50. A car 52 is moved up and down via a rope by the driving mechanism of the elevator, which is built into the counterweight 50. This eliminates the need for a machine house in a conventional rope elevator.
The linear motor elevator shown in FIG. 1 has the advantage of making a conventional machine house unnecessary. However, an overhead sheave for suspending a car must be installed above the car in the elevator shaft. This increases the height of the elevator shaft itself, so the elevator shaft protrudes from the roof of the building. This makes the elevator not satisfactorily effective. Additionally, since the driving device is attached to the counterweight, the plane size of the counterweight increases, and this increases the plane size of the elevator shaft. Consequently, the effective use area of the building decreases.
FIGS. 2, 3A, and 3B show outlines of elevators, such as described in Jpn. UM Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 4-50297 and Japanese Pat. No. 2593288, in which a hoisting device 53 is installed in the gap between the elevator shaft wall and a side surface of a car 55 at the top of an elevator shaft 54.
In the elevator disclosed in Jpn. UM Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 4-50297, as shown in FIG. 2, a motor is used as the driving device 53, and the car 55 and a counterweight 56 are suspended like well buckets. A traction sheave 57 is placed in the upper portion of the elevator shaft 54. The car 55 is attached to one end of a rope 58 wound around the traction sheave 57, and the counterweight 56 is attached to the other end of the rope 58. The traction sheave 57 is driven by the motor, and the driving force is transmitted to the rope 58 by the friction between the rope 58 and the traction sheave 57, thereby vertically moving the car 55 and the counterweight 56. In this structure, the driving device 53 is large. Therefore, a conventional machine house is eliminated by increasing the size of the elevator shaft 54, and the driving device 53 is installed in an empty space of the elevator shaft 54.
In the driving device support structure shown in FIG. 2 in which the driving device is installed in the gap between the elevator shaft wall and the car, the rotating surface of the traction sheave 57 is perpendicular to the side surface of the car. Accordingly, the gap between the car and the wall must be larger than that in common elevators. This decreases the effective use area of the building.
The principle of operation of the elevator disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2593288 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is basically the same as the elevator shown in FIG. 2. A motor is used as a driving device 53, and a car 55 and a counterweight 56 are suspended like well buckets. A traction sheave 57 is placed in the upper portion of an elevator shaft 54. The car 55 is attached to one end of a rope 58 wound around the traction sheave 57, and the counterweight 56 is attached to the other end of the rope 58. The traction sheave 57 is driven by the motor, and the driving force is transmitted to the rope 58 by the friction between the rope 58 and the traction sheave 57, thereby vertically moving the car 55 and the counterweight 56. In this structure, however, as a method of installing the driving device 53 in an empty space of the elevator shaft 54, the driving device 53 is attached to counterweight guide rails 59a and 59b via fixing members. Also, to install the driving device 53 in an empty space of the elevator shaft 54, the rope 58 is extended via deflection pulleys 60a to 60c. With this arrangement, a conventional machine house is unnecessary.
In the structure shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, if the rated loadage of the car increases, the thickness of the traction sheave 57 increases to make the traction sheave 57 unable to install in the gap between the car and the elevator shaft wall. Additionally, since the driving device is supported by the guide rails, the load on the guide rails increases. Then, the size of the elevator cannot be increased. Also, since the return sheave is mounted on the car, the driving device support structure is complicated, and the number of parts of the structure increases. This increases the cost and makes the installation maintenance troublesome.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a machine-houseless traction elevator by which the plane size and height of an elevator shaft can be decreased.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine-houseless traction sheave elevator by which the size of an elevator shaft is equivalent to that in a conventional elevator with a machine house and a driving device can be mounted without forming any projecting portion on the roof of a building, and which has a mounting structure for firmly supporting the driving device.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along counterweight guide rails; ropes for suspending the car and the counterweight; a driving device installed at a top of an elevator shaft above the counterweight; and at least one traction sheave engaging with the rope and rotated by the driving device, the traction sheave being placed close to a wall surface of an elevator shaft wall, which is adjacent to a wall surface facing the counterweight and outside a horizontally projected plane of the car.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along counterweight guide rails; ropes for suspending the car and the counterweight; and a driving device comprising traction sheaves engaging with the ropes, the driving device being installed in an upper portion of an elevator shaft, and the traction sheaves being attached to two ends of an output shaft of the driving device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along car guide rails;
a counterweight installed close to a side surface of the car and moving up and down along counterweight guide rails; ropes for suspending the car and the counterweight like well buckets; a driving device installed at a top of an elevator shaft above the counterweight; and at least one traction sheave attached to an end portion of the driving device and engaging with and driving the rope, the traction sheave being positioned close to a wall surface of an elevator shaft wall, which is adjacent to a wall surface facing the counterweight, and outside a horizontally projected plane of the car.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along a pair of car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along a pair of counterweight guide rails; a plurality of ropes for suspending the counterweight; traction sheaves engaging with the ropes; a driving device for driving the traction sheaves attached to two ends of the driving device; and support beams for integrally connecting the car guide rails with the counterweight guide rails, the driving device being mounted on the support beams.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along a pair of car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along a pair of counterweight guide rails; a plurality of ropes for suspending the counterweight; traction sheaves engaging with the ropes; a driving device for driving the traction sheaves attached to two ends of the driving device; support beams for integrally connecting the car guide rails with the counterweight guide rails; and a plurality of mounting legs placed on the support beams to fix the driving device, the mounting legs being formed on a lower surface and a side surface of the driving device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along a pair of car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along a pair of counterweight guide rails; a plurality of ropes for suspending the counterweight; traction sheaves engaging with the ropes; a driving device for driving the traction sheaves attached to two ends of the driving device; and fixing plates placed on upper end faces of the car guide rails or the counterweight guide rails, the driving device being mounted on the fixing plates.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along a pair of car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along a pair of counterweight guide rails; a plurality of ropes for suspending the counterweight; traction sheaves engaging with the ropes; a driving device for driving the traction sheaves attached to two ends of the driving device; and support members for fixing the driving device to the car guide rails or the counterweight guide rails, the support members comprising horizontal support members placed on upper end faces of the car guide rails or the counterweight guide rails and front support members extending downward parallel to the guide rails to fix the driving device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along a pair of car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along a pair of counterweight guide rails; a plurality of ropes for suspending the counterweight; traction sheaves engaging with the ropes; a driving device for driving the traction sheaves attached to two ends of the driving device; and a support member attached to an elevator shaft wall at a top of an elevator shaft, the driving device being mounted on the support member.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator comprising: a car moving up and down along a pair of car guide rails; a counterweight moving up and down along a pair of counterweight guide rails; a plurality of ropes for suspending the counterweight; traction sheaves engaging with the ropes; and a driving device for driving the traction sheaves attached to two ends of the driving device, the driving device being mounted on an elevator shaft wall at a top of an elevator shaft.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.